Kenya hosts Twende Team
Last week, a Twende Mbele team missioned to Kenya and were hosted by the Monitoring and Evaluation Department (MED) in the National Government. The main objective was assessing how Kenya and Twede Mbele and move forward together.
Over the years, inadequate M&E capacity has been a challenge in Kenya. To address this, the MED – in partnership with various universities – developed M&E curricula for certificate, postgraduate diploma and Master’s degree courses. In addition, the MED and the Kenya School of Government, developed County Result Based M&E systems at the devolved structures. Universities and other research service providers are also supplying many of the evaluators, particularly where sophisticated research methodologies are needed, eg for impact evaluations, and undertake research which is closely allied to evaluation, and can help to inform research process.
Twende goes to Ghana
A delegation made up of the Chair of Twende Mbele, the CLEAR-AA Director and the South African Country Coordinator, Dr Ian Goldman, Dr Laila-Ruth Smith and Ms Rendani Manugu, respectively, undertook a scoping trip to Ghana to explore areas for deeper partnership.
This scoping trip, one of many to come, is one such initiative towards strengthening learning for improved government performance and accountability. The Twende Mbele delegation met with the National Department of Planning Commission, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, a Parliamentary Select Committee for Poverty Reduction, and the Minister for M&E (a recently added Ministry). A representative from the Ghana Monitoring and Evaluation Forum was also part of the discussions.
ToR for Communications Strategy
Twende Mbele is looking for individuals or firms to undertake the design of a Communications Strategy for the Programme.
Proposals are due 10th June 2017.
The full terms of reference can be found here
Terms of Reference: Developing an online tool for legislative oversight
Purpose
Elected officials are expected to conduct oversight visits, but often have relatively little background in either monitoring and evaluation, or the sectoral area they are overseeing. Support staff can provide guidance, but are often overburdened, and are faced will challenges gathering and synthesizing data and navigating the politicized oversight process, leaving them with little capacity to structure well informed oversight processes that speak to fundamental principles of M&E. This app is designed to support elected officials and support staff prepare for oversight visits.
Features
The mobile app to provide M&E in oversight (still to be named) is essentially a large survey tool with skip logic. It should first allow users to select the sector of the oversight visit. We will begin with at least:
• Health (clinic/hospital)
• School
• Safety (Police Station/community safety)
• Park
• Housing
• Transport
• Community Development
• Home affairs
The administrator will be trained to add any additional fields as the app is applied in field and as we develop the capacity for its use as an oversight tool.
Within sectors, it will allow the user to select both the “result level” for oversight, such as:
• activity monitoring,
• output verification,
• outcome analysis, and
• impact contribution
It will also allow the user to map stakeholders, selecting:
• service users
• affected community members
• direct implementers
• facility managers
• administrators
• procurement or account holders
• professional association/policy norms and standards
• technical experts
The app will prompt the user with a few basic questions about the programme design, to allow an identification of the key result levels to focus on. It will then aid the user to identify relevant questions targeted at the right stakeholders, at the right result levels.
Phase One
In the first phase of app development, the tool should work like the paper copy of a workbook, with the online interface making it easier for the user to identify the correct questions. It should be openly available to anyone, does not require user logins, does not store information, etc. and be able to be used offline when in-field.
Phase Two
In the second phase of the app development, the tool should allow users to log in, and also allow them to store responses to questions. There should be a geolocation feature, allowing them to identify the specific facility in question, and there should be the option to upload supporting pictures and reference documents. They should then be able to recall this information if needed, providing an oversight journal for the representative in question.
Phase Three
The third phase of the app development will only happen in conjunction with a technical assistance (TA) exercise. The tool should allow for “groups” to work together simultaneously inputting planning targets, starting with SDG’s, national development goals, drilling down to municipal level targets and indicators. There should be an option of sharing information between users (i.e. between elected representatives and support staff), helping the app to track progress against different targets, as well as alerts.
Technical specifications
We would like a proposal that covers phases 1 and 2 of app development. The proposal should include a comprehensive gannt chart with specific milestones as well as three proposed mock ups in terms of design. We would like the possibility to build on the app to phase 3, but don’t have immediate plans for building in that direction.
1. Develop an app policy regards administrator rights this will include auto uploading of csv files for users.
2. The app to be available with a stylus (PDA fashion)
3. All IP belongs to CLEAR AA
4. Troubleshooting for a period on 12 months whilst using the app
5. Training to the team
6. Lastly, a comprehensive User acceptance testing in alignment with PMBOK procedures to be followed before final sign off on the design and application abilities.
7. BI reports (mobile app analytics to be produced on a monthly basis
8. Ability to export the backend data captured into the full MS suite of packages
Please send a detailed proposal for the development of a mobile app to [email protected] by 10 June, 2017.
Service providers will be selected by 30th June. Content for phase 1 will be workshopped in mid-July, with finalization anticipated in September.
Terms of Reference: App development
The Strengthening Legislative Oversight team at CLEAR-AA are looking to build an online tool for parliamentarians to use on oversight visits. Having no coding expertise themselves, they are looking to pay someone to help them with this exciting project.
The Terms of Reference for a consultant/team/organisation can be found here.
Proposals are due by the 10th June, to [email protected]
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